i wrote this entire story at 2am and I'm just posting it day by day bc I know if I posted it all at once you guys would read it in a half hour and then hate yourselves for reading it so fast

It's two days later when Harry finally returns to the Great Hall for breakfast, his leg still a bit sore but otherwise fine. He's put his necklace around his neck instead of in his pocket, with the chain tucked under his shirt to hide it from prying eyes.

The second he comes in the door, Hermione is out of her seat and running toward him, wrapping her arms around him in a tight hug. 

Almost immediately she pulls away. "Sorry, I'm sorry, I was just so worried-" she says nervously, and Harry can't help it; he pulls her in for another hug.

She goes stiff for a second before relaxing and hugging him back, small arms winding around him comfortingly, and Harry can't breathe because it's been so long since he's hugged Hermione and his heat hurts and he makes his decision before he can think about it too much.

She pulls away slowly, meeting his eyes sadly.

"Heya, Hermione," Harry says with a sweet smile.

"Hi, Harry," she replies, her eyes still filled with sadness and heaviness.

"Hey, Hermione," Harry says, slower this time, trying to convey meaning with his words and face. "How are you, Hermione Jean Granger, whose parents are dentists and who is the brightest witch of her age?"

She freezes, eyes searching his, wide and panicked and hopeful and her mouth falls open. "Do you- are you-"

Harry smiles again, and Hermione throws herself into his arms again. Her shoulders are shaking and Harry can feel the wetness of her tears through his t-shirt but he doesn't care because his best friend in the world is hugging him tighter than she ever has before.

"I missed you," she whispers, and Harry's heart breaks a little bit. "Don't ever do that again." Suddenly she pulls away, eyes wide. "Do you remember what happened to you?"

"We'll talk about that later," Harry promises, and she nods slowly, hugging him one more time before they go to the Gryffindor table.

Everyone is staring at them.

Harry's necklace warms slightly, and he catches Draco's eye. The boy is looking at him with a puzzled expression. Harry gives the tiniest of smiles back, and his necklace returns to its normal temperature.

"The hell was that?" Ginny says through a mouthful of toast.

Hermione meets Harry's eyes. He shakes his head fractionally. 

"I was just happy he's not dead," Hermione lies softly. "I heard the poison in the potion could have killed him, and I was so scared."

"You two hugged, like, five times," Ron says bitterly, staring right at Harry.

"She looked like she could use a hug," Harry replies, cocking his head. He can't help the venom in his voice, and he knows he'll have to explain it to Hermione later. "Do you have a problem with me hugging her? I'm of the understanding that she's my friend."

Ron's face goes purple. 

"So you'll hug her and be nice to her, but not me?" he spits. "What's so fuckin' special about her?"

"Excuse me?" Hermione says, but Ron is on a roll now.

"Why does she get to come back and be your friend now, but I don't? Why are you nice to everyone else, even fucking Malfoy, but you're a dick to me?"

"You were a dick first," Harry says. "Karma's a bitch, isn't it?"

Ron stiffens, and Harry knows exactly what even he's thinking of. Confusion replaces rage, because how could Harry know that Ron cursed him?

"You did nothing but frown at me for a week, and then you tried to tell me to just remember, and then you shouted at me for calling you out on your bullshit," Harry continues. "You haven't made a good impression on me, and I'm not sure why I ever became friends with you in the first place. You seem like a dick. Also, you were just mean to Hermione, and I don't think friends do that."

"She's my girlfriend," Ron spits bitterly. He stands and slams his hands down on the table. "And you can't base your opinion of me on three conversations!"

"Four, now, including this one. This one is also not leaving a good impression on me." Harry's voice is calm, but he's trying not to laugh at the impressive range of colors Ron's face is turning.

"I'll fucking-"

"Threats are also not leaving a good impression," Harry cuts in smoothly. "And you might want to note that everyone's staring at you."

Ron looks around, and sure enough, everyone is staring at him in horror, leaning away slightly. His mouth snaps shut and he slowly slides down in his seat, glaring at Harry with more hatred than Harry's ever seen aimed at him. It hurts him a bit, to see a face that usually smiles and laughs at him so filled with anger and hatred for him, but Harry knows he can't be friends with Ron anymore. Not when he knows Ron would hate him for who he is.

His necklace warms slightly.

His eyes catch on Draco across the room. He's talking to Blaise, but his eyes are flicking over to Harry with hints of worry. Harry fights the smile at his boyfriend's antics, and he warms Draco's necklace a bit to tell him everything's okay.

"Ron, sit down," Hermione says suddenly and loudly, making Harry jump. He turns back to them, noticing that Ron has stood back up with fire in his eyes and Harry realizes he's been staring at Draco for a little too long and oh fuck, Ron knows.

His eyes are cold and furious, and Harry isn't sure exactly how much he's realized, but he knows something is going on between Harry and Draco, fuck, fuck, fuck.

"You sick fuck," Ron bites out. "How-"

"Ron," Harry cuts off, biting out the word dangerously. He stands up too. "Don't you fucking dare. Not here."

"Why not here?" Ron's voice is getting louder, and out of the corner of his eye, Harry sees Draco turn away from his conversation with Blaise and stare at them. Harry's necklace warms more, but Harry can't focus on it. "Are you scared, Harry? Afraid that people are gonna learn something about you that you might not like?"

Hermione and Dean are staring at him in wordless fright, and it hits Harry that they both know a different secret of his and they think that's the one that Ron has realized.

Well, Dean is right at least.

"Ron," Dean says slowly, as though he's trying to talk Ron off of a cliff. "Maybe this isn't the best place for this kind of thing."

Hermione stares at Dean like she's trying to figure something out, if he's thinking about the same thing she is. Dean catches her eye with a worried look, and Hermione tilts her head in confusion.

"Why not? He had to tell people eventually, didn't he?" Ron's voice is rising. "Or were you just gonna marry the first girl you found and prete-"

"Ron!" Harry shouts. Fear is coursing through his veins, oh fuck I'm not ready for people to know, fuck, fuck, fuck, and he realizes that he never wanted to tell people, that Draco was right, he needs more time. "It's not okay to out people," he finishes in a soft voice, hoping as few people hear him as possible. His necklace is almost burning him. Draco is desperately trying to calm him down, but Harry can't fucking breathe.

Hermione's eyes have widened, and fuck, she heard him. He can see her eyes widen further as bits and pieces click into place. Dean's heard him too, and maybe Seamus, but the boy's face is more focused on Ron than Harry. Harry vaguely wonders if Hermione will hate him now.

"You think that's what's not okay?" Ron shouts. He spreads his arms, fire flashing in his eyes. "What's not okay here is that you're a fucking f-"

"Ron, shut the fuck up!" 

Ron stills immediately, turning to face Hermione, who is standing up from the bench, cheeks flushed and anger in her eyes.

In all of the eight years Harry's known Hermione, she's never cursed once, and shock flows through him at the realization that she's on Harry's side.

"Shut up, right now, Ronald Weasley," she says, taking a step forward. "Or I'm going to make you regret every fucking word that spills out of your mouth for the rest of your fucking life."

The word fuck sounds so strange coming from Hermione. She's always been one for more complicated words and getting her point across in more calm and straightforward ways.

But right now Hermione is furious, and all of her fury is aimed at Ron, and if Harry wasn't so pissed at the redhead he would feel bad for him right now, because the wrath of one Hermione Jean Granger is not to be trifled with.

"Hermione-" Ron starts. "He's fucking-"

"I know," she cuts off, still not letting him say the word in front of so many people. "And he's also my best friend in the entire world, even if he doesn't remember me, and I love him, and you're being a giant asshole right now."

Seamus coughs and Harry sees Draco stand up from his seat, looking half like he wants to help Harry and half like he wants to keep their secret. Harry's necklace is cool now, not quite cold, but Draco looks worried.

Ron glares and whips out his wand, and several things happen at once.

Draco runs forward, only to be grabbed by Blaise and yanked back into his seat. Ron shouts "Sectumsempra!" at Harry, hitting him hard in the shoulder and sending him falling. Hermione screams "Expelliarmus!", and Harry doesn't see the result because his head hits the ground hard. Dean shoots out of his seat and lifts Harry's head off the ground, pulling him behind the bench in case Ron starts firing more spells. Professor McGonagall shouts something and several people at other tables are screaming. Harry is bleeding, and he's somewhat aware that he once did this to Draco. His head hurts more than his shoulder, though, although maybe Harry's just focusing on the pain in his head more. He thinks he hears shouting from the Slytherin table, is that Draco screaming "Let me go, Blaise!"? He thinks it is, and then suddenly he sees blonde hair and panicked grey eyes and McGonagall is still shouting and there is a fuckton of people running around but all Harry can see is Draco's terrified face in front of his own, a chain dangling from his neck with frost starting to coat it. 

Time seems to slow down then, and Draco's shaking hands reach up to cup Harry's face, wide grey eyes searching his for something. Harry grins slightly. His necklace is freezing.

"I suppose this is my karma for sixth year."

Draco lets out a shaky laugh, eyes stubbornly avoiding looking at Harry's right shoulder, and Harry wonders if it's really that bad. 

"This is the second time this week you've saved me from dying," Harry mumbles.

"I haven't saved you from anything yet, and you're not gonna fucking die."

Harry glances over Draco's shoulder and wonders why Ron still has his wand as Hermione and Blaise grab him and fight him for it, and McGonagall and Flitwick are joining them, shouting spells and grabbing Ron's arms, and he shouts something and there's a green jet of light and Harry wonders if it's the Avada Kedavra spell and then it catches up to his brain that Draco's eyes have gone wide and he realizes that the spell hit Draco and he thinks he's screaming as Draco falls to the side, eyes falling closed, and Draco's necklace is covered in ice and then there's blood everywhere, and is it Harry's or Draco's?

Harry can't stop screaming, and Dean points his wand at him and murmurs something and Harry hears Ron scream "Faggot!" and his last thought is well fuck, I guess everyone knows now, and the world goes black.